ago montgomery county police chief charles moose held a news conference. >> reporter: for so many of us involved in the news coverage every day it was a frightening time. >> they do have two suspects and they have an all points bulletin out for a white isuzu or mitsubishi. >> reporter: at any moment it felt like another random victim might be shot. today malvo says he was a monster. >> if you look up the definition, i mean that's what a monster is. i was a ghoul. i was a thief. i stole people's lives. what do i tell the child who was waiting for his father to come home and dad never showed up? >> reporter: malvo also described in frank terms how he and mohammed carried out their deadly crime spree including 27 shootings across the country. >> he'd go in the trunk. i'd put my window down halfway and i could see whatever was in front of me, to my left and to my right. my focus was on witnesses, passengers and whenever there was an opening, i told him to

shoot and it was just one rapid after another after another after another. if there was an opening within 10 -- wasn't an opening within 10 minutes, we moved. >> reporter: one of the more disturbing elements of malvo's interview is he urges the victims' families to move on. he said "don't allow myself or muhammad to continue to make you a victim for the rest of your life. it isn't worth can." anita, back to you. -- worth it." anita, back to you. upstreet on the potomac a power plant as of has shut down operations -- plant has shut down operations. today alexandria held a celebration. elected officials praised two residents who investigated and hired researchers to study the plant's emissions and the health effects on people who lived in the area. the findings show the plant was spewing concentrated contaminants into the neighboring community which caused hundreds of health problems and resulted in 59

deaths. >> what was once the largest source of air pollution in the d.c. region will be no more because of citizens involvement. >> this plant was a mistake in the first place and we're correcting that because it should never have been placed here, especially with the shortened smokestacks. >> the five smokestacks had to be short because the power plant is in national airport's flight path. coming up at 6:00 you're going to meet the woman who raised the questions and start investigating the potomac river power plant 11 years ago. the presidential debate is two days way and will take place in the battleground state of colorado. each candidate is getting ready for the debate and are outlining some of the specifics. danielle nottingham is already in denver. >> reporter: mitt romney will hold his last public event before wednesday's debate here

at this hangar in denver and his supporters here say there is little room this week for mistakes. inside this denver airplane hangar gop volunteers work the phones. crews set the stage for mitt romney's last rally before his first presidential debate. >> i think a lot of people are waiting until the debate wednesday. i think that's going to be a big sway for some people to finally see them go head to head and see where they are on the issues. >> reporter: wednesday's debate at university of denver will focus on domestic policy. romney supporters want the gop nominee to show undecided voters how he'll jump start the slow recovery. >> i think he has solutions to our economic problems and that's really what's going to help everyone in this country. >> reporter: colorado is a battleground state that went for president obama in 2008. republicans here say they've already made four times the phone calls as this time four years ago.

a new washington post poll gives the president a comfortable 11 point lead when it comes to swing states like colorado. >> i feel like he actually has a plan, whereas romney i haven't seen specifics really. >> reporter: the poll also shows 56% of voters think the president will win the first debate. sunday in las vegas he tried to dial back those expectations. >> governor romney, he's a good debater. i'm just okay. >> reporter: the president is staying in nevada to study up for wednesday. romney will be hunkering down in denver. recent polls show mitt romney is trailing in most must win states. his team is hoping a good performance on wednesday will help shift the momentum. in denver, danielle nottingham, anita, back to you. for months now we've been getting both political parties' spin on the election. now it's time for just the facts no, more bull and we are your go to station including for wednesday night's debate.

9news is teaming up with our sister publication usa today. all night long beginning at 9 p.m. on our website we'll be fact checking what the candidates actually say and live stream the debate on our website. turn your tv to channel 9 to watch the debate at 9:00 and log onto www.wusa9.com for live fact checking at the very same time. then 9 news now at 11:00 for the most comprehensive and accurate debate coverage. coming up we'll go back out to nationals park where derek is going to be talking to a man who has seen almost every nationals game since they started playing in the city seven years ago. you'll want to see that. too many americans are struggling to find work

in today's economy. too many of those who are working are living paycheck to paycheck trying to make falling incomes meet rising prices for food and gas. more americans are living in poverty than when president obama took office and fifteen million more are on food stamps. president obama and i both care about poor and middle-class families. the difference is my policies will make things better for them. we shouldn't measure compassion by how many people are on welfare. we should measure compassion by how many people are able to get off welfare and get a good paying job. my plan will create twelve million new jobs over the next four years helping lift families out of poverty and strengthening the middle-class. i'm mitt romney and i approve this message

because we can't afford another four years like the last four years. ♪ d.c. baseball history could be made tonight if the washington nationals can beat the philadelphia phillies. >> that's right. our colleague derek mcginty is live at nationals park with more on where this team has been and where they're hopefully going. d? >> reporter: oh, man, a lot of expectations around this team, but you not, it has been actually a pretty fast -- but you know, it has been actually a pretty fast process. in about an hour or 45 minutes or so they'll play the philadelphia phillies. if you look behind me, you can see the players warming up

taking their batting practice loosening up for the big game tonight. i'm joined here in nats park by charlie f mr. oes, the voice of the nats. i know you're very excited because you sat here and watched the nats go from bad to good in a lot less time than anybody expected. >> when you think back to baseball's return in 2005 and the excitement that there was at rfk stadium that first year the team got off to a great start. the whole city was captivated by it and they were 19 games over .500 at the midway point with a 5 1/2 game lead over atlanta and faded in 2nd half and played 19 games under .500 wound up in last place and hadn't seen anything close to .500 until this year, until the end of last year when they finished a game under .500. >> reporter: but the beginning of this season folks are saying if they make .500 this season, it will be a really good year. now look. >> they made just about .500 last year and i think everybody thought if they around this

team and you knew the personnel and you saw spring training in addition to gio gonzalez with the help of adam laroche who missed all of last year and was never effective in the five weeks or so that he played with the bad shoulder, then they went through all these injuries despite a 14-4 start in the first few weeks of the season. you were without michael morse until june. ryan zimmerman had a bad shoulder. early may jayson werth breaks his wrist against the phillies trying to make a sliding catch and you're thinking how will they do it? but the pitching is fantastic and stayed healthy throughout the year and that was the key. outside of drew storen, their closer, missing half the year and then tyler clippard picked it up. >> reporter: you've got to talk about the personnel moves because people like the big donkey who hit all the home runs two years ago. they let him go. everybody said oh, no, but all their moves have just come together to make this team that seems to fit together perfectly and play perfect ball when they need to. >> that was adam laroche who

replaced adam dunn and took over first baseman healthy, over 100 runs batted in. with bryce harper they give the right-handed hitting lineup balance with michael morse, ryan zimmerman and jayson werth. >> reporter: charlie, i want to thank you and say congratulations to you because you did not have to wait like 100 years like those boston fans did to get their playoff run. hopefully ours will be just as successful as theirs has been. we are live at nats park where the clouds have rolled in, but we really hope the rain holds off. topper, what do you think? >> i think for the most part we'll be okay. i can't rule out a couple sprinkles, derek, but certainly nothing heavy. we do have clouds in place, but the real showers are south and wes of us. let's start -- west of us. let's start our michael and son weather cam. it's cloudy everywhere, temperatures sort of mild. today started out certainly gorgeous, 71 right now, dew

point 50 and that's actually significant for a couple reasons. when it starts to rain, it's going to cool off and also the air is pretty dry. even if we get some showers overhead, they're not going to be hitting the ground. winds out of the south at 10. that will not change. satellite picture radar combined, you can certainly see the storm system. you can also certainly see that the bulk of the precip and bull's eye will be west of us. in fact, west of the appalachians. we're fairly confident this is low pressure that will move into the ohio valley overnight and because of that we'll be on the warm sector. it will get warm tomorrow despite the clouds, but also because of that see the showers running up west virginia. it may get into the mountains before midnight, but i think in the immediate metro area we have until about 10:00, 11:00, maybe midnight if we're lucky. these showers now aren't reaching the ground south and wes of us. here's a close -- west of us. here's a close-in view. south of charlottesville, those actually are reaching the ground and south of elkins, but

the atmosphere is dry. we've got a ways to go and this activity in prince william county and fauquier county, i can't find any of those hitting the ground yet. showers on the way, showers hopefully after the game. a wet tuesday morning commute no, doubt about that. warmer wednesday and better chance of showers and thunderstorms on wednesday, too. futurecast, 12:30 tonight some showers here and there, bulk of the precipitation back into fredericksburg and points south. then we move it northward. you can see by morning, boom, we get some showers and thunderstorms. we get some yellows and oranges popping up. so that means could be a messy commute in the morning, especially d.c. north. then we get some breaks in the precipitation and maybe even some breaks in the clouds, more showers and storms back to the west. we'll be kind of one of those patterns where it's unsettled. you might see a break in the clouds and then showers and storms develop again. mostly cloudy tonight, cool, showers late. nats should be dry, lows 54 to 64 and by morning mostly cloudy, mild, showers, maybe

even a thunderstorm, temperatures in the 50s and 60s and then by afternoon we'll say variable clouds, warmer but showers and storms possible, highs near 80 despite the clouds and the showers. next three days right now we'll keep it code green. we always reserve the right to raise that to code yellow. 78 tuesday, some storms wednesday, 84. warm on thursday. there's a great day right there, partly cloudy and 84. next seven days another great day is friday, partly cloudy with temperatures in the low 80s and then big weekend. we got the terps in town. we got family weekend be at university of maryland, maybe some showers late in the day. the game might get off without the showers rolling in and then sunday the skins in town, cooler with showers, mid-60s and then maybe just some rain on monday, also mid-60s. >> let's hope the nats squeeze this game by without any real raindrops. >> let's hope they're popping the bubbly. get ready to shell out more money for lunch at a d.c. food

truck. we'll tell you why. >> up next a close call for carmageddon construction workers in southern california. we'll show you what happened. weeks of this campaign... and more ads. you, in your living room or... what i'd say. losing nearly eight hundred... mired in iraq. nation we are... moving forward again. get folks back to work and... again. that with even bigger... fewer regulations... prosper. on the same trickle-down... in the first place. so what's my plan? manufacturing jobs... exports... that... ship jobs overseas. in half and produce more... clean coal, natural gas... solar, and biofuels. efficiency of cars and trucks. maintain the best workforce... hundred thousand additional... training two million... they need at our community... tuition in half and... americans can afford it. reduce our deficit by... next decade, on top of the... already cut. little more. afghanistan... pay down our debt and... nation-building... right here at home. patriotism, rooted in the... begins with a strong... thriving middle class. read my plan. and decide for yourself. thanks for listening. this message.

caught on tape, a little

unexpected drama during this week's carmageddon in los angeles. a big chunk of the mulholland bring fell unexpectedly saturday during demolition. a few construction workers got out of the way just in time narrowly escaping injury. on that note drivers in l.a. are breathing a sigh of relief after surviving their second carmageddon, a 10-mile stretch of one of the busiest freeways 405 shut down until late last night for the demolition of the bridge span we were talking about. it's part of a four-year project to add a carpool lane to the freeway. los angeles' mayor declared the weekend a resounding success. the freeway opened seven hours ahead of schedule. it wouldn't be southern california without a chase hours after the freeway was back open again. this morning police say the driver of a stolen white jaguar took off after officers tried to stop him in the san fernando valley. the chase reached speeds of 120 miles per hour. the suspect bailed from the car and fried to hide in an industrial park -- tried to

hide in an industrial park. officers caught up with him and took him into custody. some new driving laws take effect in maryland. starting today all children under the age of 8 must sit in a child seat or booster seat in the car. it does not matter how much they weigh. if the children are taller than 4' 9, they obviously don't have to. also you are now required by law to treat a dark traffic light as a stop sign. that will be key with the next round of power outages. if you don't, you could get a ticket. no such thing as a tax free lunch anymore, at least not in the district. starting today d.c. food truck operators will be adding on a 10% tax on the meals they sell. that's the same tax charged in d.c. restaurants. before the new tax food truck operators paid the city a $1,500 flat rate every year. you may not be familiar with his face, but you'll know his cartoon. coming up we'll introduce you to the host of this year's oscar.

>> 50 years ago james meredith was admitted to the university of mississippi. i'm randall pinkston in oxford as ole miss marks a dramatic moment that changed the school and the state. >> i'm matt jablow. coming up a man with deep ties to professional baseball in washington reflects on the nationals' success, that story straight ahead.

welcome back to nats park. i'm derek mcginty. we are live here where the washington nationals will take on the philadelphia phillies in less than two hours. if they can win this 1 game, they will clinch the national -- one game, they will clinch the national game east and roll into the playoffs. we heard the gates are now open, so the washington national fans will begin to stream in. i even see a couple of folks here right now. they've been waiting a long time for this day. a lot of old baseball fans can remember all the frustration and sadness of the senators losing and moving away, but there is one fan in montgomery county who has waited a lot longer than most. our own matt jablow brings you his story. >> we always ended up in last place. >> reporter: of all the long suffering fans of professional baseball teams in the washington area, few have suffered as long or deeply as charlie brotman. >> it's difficult to sell a

loser. >> reporter: whose takoma park home is a well appointed shrine to the nationals. >> they are my life. i love it. >> reporter: charlie was the public address announcer at griffith stadium from 1956 to 1971 during which time the senators lost a lot more than they won, which is why the nationals winning wave has been a real thrill for charlie. >> it's bringing the city closer together. it's really exciting! >> reporter: though he's not officially associated with the nationals, charlie likes to consider himself the team's unofficial ambassador. >> i always wanted to be an ambassador. >> reporter: he's friendly with the team's owners and goes to about 20 games a year. in fact, he's planning on being at the game tonight against the phillies when the nats hope to clinch the division. >> everybody loves to be associated with a winner. >> reporter: what's more, charlie has been asked to be the honorary public address announcer for the team's first playoff game. >> let's play ball!

>> reporter: when asked if he ever thought a washington squad would be the best team in baseball, charlie answered with his typical honesty and enthusiasm. >> impossible, absolutely unquivocally no. >> reporter: in takoma park, matt jablow, 9 news now. >> reporter: and you can see the philadelphia phillies warming up trying to get ready for tonight's game. they are 16 games behind the nationals in this year's standings. once they were the dominant team they were world series champs a few years ago, but as darth vader once said now i am the master. back to you in the studio. >> that's what the nats want to say to the phillies, for sure. >> absolutely. thanks, derek. today also marks a milestone in the civil right movement. half a century ago james meredith confronted racism head on. >> that's right. he was the first african american student at ole miss and tonight the campus is marking the day with an

anniversary celebration, but as randall pinkston reports, meredith himself remains a reluctant hero. >> reporter: students gathered in tribute on the campus where james meredith made history. >> i know i wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him. >> i'm proud to attend this school. >> reporter: 50 years ago meredith was the first african american student to attend university of mississippi. his trouble became a flash point in the civil rights movement. a defiant governor ross barnett repeatedly blocked him from enrolling and angry mobs rioted in the streets, but on october 1st, 1962, meredith attended his first classes at ole miss. today he remains a reluctant hero. >> for 50 years people have been thanking me, congratulating me. it wasn't james meredith. it was god all the time. >> reporter: after meredith mississippi gradually desegregated all of its universities, colleges and public schools. one of the participants in that evolution was governor ross

barnett's daughter. >> i taught american history. >> reporter: rita atkins taught for 11 years in a predominantly black high school in jackson. she's not sure what her father would have thought. >> he always believed in segregation. >> reporter: did you believe that, too? >> i grew up believing that, but i changed my mind. >> reporter: meredith graduated from ole miss and went to law school leaving behind a changed campus. >> where injustice identified us in the past we want to be sure that opportunity and justice identify this university in the future. >> reporter: today 1/4 of the student body here is minority including this year's homecoming queen. randall pinkston, cbs news, oxford, mississippi. seth mcfarland will be the hose of next year's academy -- host of next year's academy awards, famous for being creator of the tv series family guy, but the film academy made it clear the movie ted is the real reason behind the choice. ted took many more than $420 million this summer at the box office, one of the highest

grossing films of the year. it's also a big day for one of cbs tv's biggest stars. ncis actor mark harmon was honored today with a star on the hollywood walk of fame. cbs' president joined him on hollywood boulevard today. the honor comes six days after the drama started its 10th banner season. still ahead a new study tries to ease concerns about the safety of the hpv vaccine. >> but up next see what happens when a deer gets involved in a downhill road race. yikes. >> and don't forget we're always on at www.wusa9.com. stay with us. we'll be right back. too many americans are struggling to find work

in today's economy. too many of those who are working are living paycheck to paycheck trying to make falling incomes meet rising prices for food and gas.

more americans are living in poverty than when president obama took office and fifteen million more are on food stamps. president obama and i both care about poor and middle-class families. the difference is my policies will make things better for them. we shouldn't measure compassion by how many people are on welfare. we should measure compassion by how many people are able to get off welfare and get a good paying job. my plan will create twelve million new jobs over the next four years helping lift families out of poverty and strengthening the middle-class. i'm mitt romney and i approve this message because we can't afford another four years like the last four years. ♪

caught on tape a terrifying crash in colorado, a deer collided head first with a skateboarder during the failed buffalo bill downhill race near denver. the skateboarder was going 65 miles an hour at the time and both the deer and the skateboarder tumbled off the road in a cloud of dust. the skateboarder reportedly was not badly hurt and neither was the deer. that race is called the downhill because of all the high speed crashes on the course. >> that looks absolutely insane, doesn't it?

>> why you'd want to do that, not exactly sure. >> thrill seeking for sure. also caught on tame an elderly man -- tape an elderly man jumps to safety from his third floor apartment. >> a fire broke out in the kitchen of the 72-year-old's new york home and the only way out was to jump. fortunately he landed into the arms of a good samaritan three stories below. >> i held my arm right here and i couldn't hold on no more. >> held him like you all right, you okay? he said yeah, i'm good. >> wow. the man suffered only a bruised heel. his apartment, of course, though sustained significant damage. how lucky, though, that he is okay. >> absolutely. still ahead tonight nine in 10 americans could find themselves pushed over the financial cliff in congress if they don't act soon. we'll explain why. >> but first two big car companies with two big recalls. we'll tell you more in our consumer alert next. weeks of this campaign... and more ads. you, in your living room or... what i'd say. losing nearly eight hundred... mired in iraq. nation we are... moving forward again. get folks back to work and... again. that with even bigger... fewer regulations... prosper. on the same trickle-down... in the first place. so what's my plan? manufacturing jobs... exports... that... ship jobs overseas. in half and produce more... clean coal, natural gas... solar, and biofuels. efficiency of cars and trucks. maintain the best workforce... hundred thousand additional... training two million... they need at our community... tuition in half and... americans can afford it. reduce our deficit by... next decade, on top of the... already cut. little more. afghanistan... pay down our debt and... nation-building... right here at home. patriotism, rooted in the... begins with a strong... thriving middle class. read my plan. and decide for yourself. thanks for listening. this message.

in tonight's consumer alert two auto companies have issued recalls for their vehicles. first up a faulty fuel pump has prompted gm to recall 40,000 cars and suvs. the company says the pumps can crack and cause a potentially dangerous fuel leak. the models affected by the recall are the 2007 through 2009 chevy cobalt, the 2007 chevy equinox, the 2007 through 2009 pontiac g5, the 2007 pontiac torrid and the 2007 saturn ion. honda is calling back about 600,000v6 accords. a faulty power steering hose in those midsize cars can leak and potentially cause a fire. those model years involved are 2003 through 2007. the automaker says it will replace the hose for free, but the parts will not be available until early next year. about a month after its debut amazon's new kindle paper white goes on sale this week

and the paper white e reader is the latest version of the kindle to go head to head with the barnes & noble nook. it was unveiled along with new versions of amazon's kindle fire tablet. the fda launched a new campaign to raise awareness about fake pharmacies. the food and drug administration says one in four people have purchased prescription medications online and officials say you could be spending money on something that's not real and it could be toxic. the agency wants you to know if the price of those meds seems too good to be true, it is probably not a real pharmacy. we've got some reassuring news about the hpv vaccine and that tops tonight's health alert. the vaccine protects against the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus which can cause cervical cancer, but some parents have been worried about the safety of this new vaccine which is given in a series of three doses to adolescents. now they did a study of 200,000 girls in california that reinforces there are few side effects.

>> the doctor told my mom it can prevent cancer in the future and stds and my mom like agreed to get it for my own health. >> researchers with kaiser permanente did find two minor side effects associated with the hpv shot, fainting on the day of the injection and some skin infections up to two weeks after, but overall they say the safety profile of this vaccine is good. also joining me tonight at 11:00 -- join me tonight at 11:00 for a special health alert about eye exams. eye doctors can shine a light on dangerous conditions, even an unseen killer. >> does it still shock you that this was found through an eye exam? >> yes. >> they say the eyes are the window to the sowm, but for that guy they were the win -- soul, but for that guy we were the window for saving his life, that story and much more tonight at 11:00. >> everybody is looking to you to do your part. keep the nats dry. we don't care about the

phillies. >> i tweaked the forecast. there's a couple showers, just a light sprinkle. some showers will probably roll through the next hour. then that should be it, nothing heavy. the a man event is tomorrow. let's start -- the main event is tomorrow. let's start with a live look outside at our live weather cam brought to you by michael and son. sure started out nice today, 71, dew point 50. the air is pretty dry. as these showers move northward, some of them will be eaten up by the dry air. we've gotten reports of showers in two portions of fauquier county and also down towards culpeper. this is hitting the ground down towards charlottesburg and south of elkins and harrisonburg. in the next hour or so it's very light, just green, no yellows or anything. there will be some showers around the ballpark, again light activity. by the time the game actually starts they may be moving away. primarily showers on the way, showers on the game, sprinkles

before the game. wet tuesday commute, getting more concerned about the commute. might want to allow extra time tomorrow morning, warmer wednesday and thunderstorms are possible tomorrow, but especially wednesday as we get some warmer air in here. by tonight some showers push through, but all light activity. this is by about 1 a.m. then we'll advance the map. look what happens. we get through the latter part of the rush hour, 6:00, 7:00, 8:00 in the morning, big time showers and some thunderstorms now from leesburg over to gaithersburg over into northern prince george's county. if you are coming down south on 270 and are leaving around 7:00, might want to allow some extra time tomorrow. that rolls northward by 10:00, 11:00 in the morning. we have get a break, maybe even some breaks in the clouds. then showers and storms develop again this time tomorrow. it's going to be very unsettled, but we'll be on the warm side of the storm. mostly cloudy, cool, showers late, sprinkles for the nats game, lows 54 to 64. tomorrow morning we got showers and thunderstorms in, temperatures in the 50s and 60s

with light winds and then by afternoon we'll say variable cloudiness, warmer, showers and storms still possible, but it won't be a stormy day all day tomorrow. there will be breaks, high temperatures near 80, winds out of the southeast at 10. next three days we'll keep it code green for now tomorrow. we reserve the right to bump that up to yellow, some showers and storms, upper 70s. some storms wednesday, but going to see sun wednesday, too 84. look at thursday, wow, partly cloudy with temperatures in the mid-80s, a nice treat. next seven days, we finish the week strong, low 80s with sunshine friday, some showers possible, maybe at the tail end of the terps game, temperatures in the mid-70s. we're trying to keep it dry on saturday. sunday we got the skins in town. we got showers, cooler temperatures, mid-60s and monday some showers and rain, temperatures in the mid-60s as well, cooler air coming in late in the weekend. couple sprinkles on the way. kristen, i'm doing my best to

keep them away. either way let's pop the bubbly tonight, shall we? >> reporter: that would be nice, topper, both of those. let's get the rain to go away, trying to stay dry. i'm here with nationals general manager mike rizzo. thanks for taking the time to sit with us today. congratulations. what a season this has been. take us through kind of this whirlwind you guys have been on this season. >> it started in spring training. we thought we had a good ballclub and playing in september and beyond. the guys battled hard through a lot of adversity. we've been beat up and nicked up a bit, but we've had guys rise to the occasion, young players, veteran players and we feel good about where we're at and where we're going. >> reporter: if building a team was easy, everybody would do it, but you guys have taken a lot of heat over the years for moves you've made. can you give us a little insight into kind of how this team came to fruition. >> you start six years ago when

i was hired as vice president of player personnel. i was in charge with the drafting of the players and player development. so it starts with the people that work for you. you liar good people. we went out and scour -- hire good people. we went out and hired the good development guys and were able to hire the brightest and best in baseball. that turned into drafting good players and making good trades and sound conrad murrays and we feel good about where -- sound judgments and we feel good about where we're at and to go from the 30th position in baseball to one is unprecedented and we're very proud of that. >> reporter: it's so exciting to watch natitude in full force. we saw stephen strasburg out here earlier. have you talked to him? what kind of teammate is he going to be like? obviously it's a difficult time. he wants to be part of this playoff run, but what kind of support has he been? >> he is a part of this. he won 15 games, was a terrific

pitcher and we're not here without stephen strasburg. so he's a great teammate. he's a great person, got great character and he's going to be a terrific pitcher for us for a long time. >> reporter: i know the beginning of the season and you just said it again you had very high hopes for this teen, optimism surrounding -- team, optimistic surrounding this team, but are you surprise at all with the success, one of the best records in baseball for the season? is there a little surprise there? >> i think some guys have exceeded expectations, but i think get pretty good about where we're at. i never put a number of wins or what the record was going to be like, but i knew we were going to be in a position to play. we had the team, youth, athleticism and the ingredients to be a really quality team to play against. we're going to win a lot of games. >> reporter: an exciting time. i was just saying earlier you guys planned it this way, right, to come back and do it in front of the fans? >> well, the fans are great.

we'd love to clinch it in front of the fans and have them get a taste of what they wanted for a long time. they've been a terrific fan base. it's only getting better over the years. we're getting ready to roll. >> reporter: it's an exciting time. mike rizzo thanks again. congratulations. hopefully we'll be popping the champagne tonight. one win is all they need. back to you. the joy of a baby panda two weeks ago was quickly replaced with sadness the following weekend. still ahead tonight we've got signs of hope from the national zoo. >> reporter: people are breathing easier in alexandria nans to one woman who became alarmed by what she saw on her window sill. i'm peggy fox that, story coming up. >> but first helping thousands fulfill the american dream. we'll have more on one local group's mission up next on hero central.

tonight in hero central helping those hoping to become americans do just that. u.s. citizenship and immigration services says 3,000 people become new citizens every day in this country and jc hayward introduces us to a local organization that's helping them apply and then pass the test. >> i feel so nice. >> reporter: maria gomez became a u.s. citizen just two months ago. the 51-year-old left her home country of el salvador during its civil war in 1990.

before earning her citizenship gomez lived and worked in the united states as a permanent resident. >> i want to vote. when a vote, i have a voice. >> reporter: d.c. resident maria nunez also passed the citizenship exam. she owns a restaurant in columbia height where she has lived 22 -- heights where she has lived 22 years. >> when i come into this country, i say one day i'll be a citizen. this is the best country in the world. >> reporter: both women were prepared for the citizenship examination thanks to latino resource and justice center. the nonprestos supports students through the citizenship -- nonprofit organization supports students through the citizenship test. >> 90% of the students pass their test. >> reporter: anna nogosco is

the director of education and advocacy for the organization and says citizenship is important for immigrants. >> you get to petition government for changes in policies that affect the community besides all other benefits that citizenship comes with, being able to travel freely. >> reporter: gomez has worked for howard university hospital 11 years. as a citizen she has her sights on other job opportunities. >> maybe i want to apply for another job. >> reporter: i'm jay jay, jc hayward hey -- jc hayward, 9 news now. >> to learn more you can go to jchayward.com. this is 9 news now. >> my scenes have all corroded on the frames and the doors are getting the same way. >> that was the complaint back in 2005 from residents living

near alexandria's coal-fired power plant and today after decades of fighting that plant on the banks of the potomac officially closed its doors. peggy fox sat down with the woman who made it possible. >> this is from the power plant. you can see it's very black and you can see my hands are black from it. >> reporter: 11 years ago elizabeth chimento noticed a strange residue outside. she lives within the site of the